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Norwich evening meeting: 11th March 2004
by Syd Hancock 05 Mar '04

05 Mar '04

The monthly Norwich 'second thursday' evening social meet will take place next week, 11th March from 8 pm in the 'City Gate' pub, Dereham Road. Full address, photo, link to map etc here: http://www.norwichpubs.info/norwichpubs/pubpages/citygate.htm If you have not attended one of these meets before, they are informal and unstructured and general chat covers many topics as well as the obvious linux-related stuff. There may or may not be a penguin on the table :-) === directions etc === The City Gate pub is just off the inner ring road at the junction of Grapes Hill and Barn Road. Dereham Road is the A1074 - take the Costessey junction on the A47 if coming from west of Norwich. Otherwise, when going clockwise around the inner ring road, Dereham road is the left turn at the traffic lights at the bottom of Grapes Hill (but see parking info below). There is a very large Cane Furniture shop on the corner and this is probably the best landmark from either direction. The pub, which has a large glass frontage (see link to picture above), is next to the cane furniture shop. There is ample parking nearby, including possible free parking on the forecourt of a wine warehouse next to the pub or on side roads off Dereham Road. There is also Pay-and-Display parking ( £1.40 for the evening) on the other side of the ring road off St Swithin's road. Coming down Grapes Hill turn right at the lights (St Benedict's Street) and then left into the entrance to the car park which is behind Toys-R-Us. Syd

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[lugmaster] Update on the EU's IP Enforcement Directive
by James Heald 26 Feb '04

26 Feb '04

-- FFII News Update -- 25 February 2004 -- +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ -- For immediate release -- Please redistribute widely As expected, the proposed text for the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) was nodded through by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs committee without a vote on Monday afternoon. The Directive is now scheduled to be debated by the full Parliament on Monday 8 March, and voted on (with amendments possible) on Tuesday 9 March, ready to be approved by ministers on Thursday 11 March. A report of the MEP's discussion can be found at: http://www.ipjustice.org/CODE/Report_of_JURI_Committee_Meeting.html One notable comment is that of Malcolm Harbour (UK Conservative MEP), who said that: "This Directive, contrary to public presentation, is not mainly about the commercial interests of the software industry, but about important brandnames that are an incentive for criminal elements (tangibles)... When getting e-mails MEPs should reply that the Directive is not about Free Software and not even about the digital world. It should pass in First Reading". This should be read in the context of Article 2 of the Directive, which states that: "...the measures and procedures provided for by this Directive shall apply, in accordance with Article 3, to any infringement of intellectual property rights as provided for by Community law and/or by the national law of the Member State concerned". A page by Ian Brown of the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), outlines some of the measures in the directive and how they could be used by claimed rightsholders against small software projects: http://www.ffii.org.uk/ip_enforce/oss.html EFF Alert ========= Electronic Freedom Frontier (EFF) today also issued a briefing about the directive, and an online petition which will be sent to key MEPs, http://action.eff.org/action/moreinfo.asp?item=2873 http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2873 "The European Parliament is poised to adopt a controversial directive on Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement that would give rights-holders incredibly powerful tools in their fight against intellectual property infringers. While this might sound like a good idea at first, a closer look reveals that the directive doesn't distinguish between unintentional, non-commercial infringers and for-profit, criminal counterfeiting organizations. If this directive is adopted, a person who unwittingly infringes copyright -- even if it has no effect on the market -- could potentially have her assets seized, bank accounts frozen and home invaded. Don’t let these tactics become the latest weapons in intellectual property rights-holders' destructive war on "piracy". "The key to the directive is the definition of 'commercial scale'. Several of the more extreme new remedies are only available for commercial- scale infringement. However, this is largely undermined by the definition in new recital 13a of the directive, which states, 'The acts which are committed on a commercial scale are those carried out for direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage'. "Although it goes on to say, 'This would normally exclude acts done by end consumers acting in good faith,' the meaning of 'indirect economic advantage' is unclear and the directive is not limited to intentional infringements. Therefore, there is concern that rights-holders will be able to use the new tougher penalties against consumers who accidentally or unknowingly infringe, including those who commit minor infringements without any commercial purpose or impact." FFII view ========= FFII stands by its previous statements about the Directive, as picked up for example in this Slashdot discussion: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/20/216227 In particular FFII draws attention to the proposal to make "Anton Piller" orders available for all alleged IP infringements, without even the proposed restriction to commercial scale. Currently these measures are unknown outside the UK and France. Furthermore, in the UK, after very strong criticisms from the most senior judges, a strict new code of practice was brought in in the early 90s which cut the number of applications granted by a factor of ten. "We are talking about unannounced dawn raids by private security firms, piling in with legal authority and seizing entire computer systems and filing cabinets full of documents. That is a terrifying and destructive experience for a small firm," explains FFII's James Heald. That is why FFII is arguing that such measures should only be available in the most extreme circumstances, and where there is clear evidence of a deliberate knowing intent to infringe for commercial gain on a commercial scale. Such measures are simply not appropriate where there is no such deliberate piracy, and no such emergency, in cases as complex as those in patent law and disputed ownership of confidential information/trade secrets, which routinely can take five years in court. "FFII says that without better defined safeguards the Directive will lead to a far more agressive, lawyer-driven legal environment for creative businesses. Having seen how similar legislation is used in the United States, FFII fears that it will provide the perfect means for agressive litigators holding dubious intellectual property rights to "pull a SCO" and use the powers of the Directive to seriously harass and damage small open-source projects and innovative businesses". FFII believes that: 1. Disputes about patents and trade secrets/confidential information should be taken out of the scope of the directive altogether. The draconian measures being discussed are completely inappropriate for such complex disputes. Ideally the directive should be limited back to its original proposed scope, namely commercially organised, fully intentional, copyright and trademark infringement. 2. The Directive should only apply where there is intent to infringe for commercial gain on a commercial scale. It should not apply unless there is good evidence of recklessness or a deliberate knowing intention to infringe. 3. Articles 7 to 10 should even then only apply in exceptional cases. It should be clearly stated in the Directive (as at the moment it is not) that they are not intended to become automatic standard procedure in all IP disputes. *** FFII urges all European citizens to contact their local constituency MEPs as soon as possible, to make them aware of the dangers of this Directive. *** Contact details for UK MEPs can be found at: http://www.europarl.org.uk/uk_meps/MembersMain.htm James Heald, UK co-ordinator, FFII http://www.ffii.org.uk/ip_enforce/ipred.html _______________________________________________ lugmaster mailing list lugmaster(a)mailman.lug.org.uk http://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/lugmaster

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[ALUG] Reminder: Norwich evening meeting tomorrow 12th Feb AND venue change
by Syd Hancock 12 Feb '04

12 Feb '04

The monthly Norwich 'second thursday' evening social meet will take place tomorrow, 12th February from 8 pm. As previously discussed, we are going to try a different venue. The meeting will be in the 'City Gate' pub which is on Dereham road, just off the inner ring road at the junction of Grapes Hill and Barn Road. Dereham Road is the A1074 - take the Costessey junction on the A47 if coming from west of Norwich. Otherwise, when going clockwise around the inner ring road, Dereham road is the left turn at the traffic lights at the bottom of Grapes Hill (but see parking info below). There is a very large Cane Furniture shop on the corner and this is probably the best landmark from either direction. The pub, which has a large glass frontage (link to picture below), is next to the cane furniture shop. There is ample parking on the other side of the ring road off St Swithin's road. Coming down Grapes Hill turn right at the lights (St Benedict's Street), bear right into the entrance to the ca rpark. Pay-and-display, £1.40. Full address, photo, link to map etc here: http://www.norwichpubs.info/norwichpubs/pubpages/citygate.htm Anything I've left out? Are the directions clear? Constructive feedback always welcomed. As usual, I will probably not be there by 8pm, sorry, so whoever turns up first, don't get lost and wait for reinforcements to arrive :-) Regards Syd _______________________________________________ main(a)lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!

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ALUG meeting in Norwich on sunday
by Syd Hancock 21 Jan '04

21 Jan '04

ALUG SUNDAY MEETING Next meeting in Norwich this coming weekend on sunday 25th January. 2pm onwards in the Nelson Room at The Billy Blue Light pub, Hall Road, Norwich. The Billy is at the city end of Hall road and is not far from the bus station, just off the inner ring road. If coming north up the A140, Hall road is the first right just after the first traffic lights off the A47. Keep going right to the end as Hall Road is long. Detailed info including directions and a streetmap are on the website here: http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/bbl.html There is no specific topic or talk planned. Bring kit as this is a general ALUG meet for installation, configuration and sunday-afternoon-in-a-pub socialising :-) Bring extension leads etc if power is required as I don't yet know what sockets etc are available. Room hire is £15 so please bring a bit of spare change towards the costs. OTHER PLANNED MEETINGS Next Norwich sunday meeting is currently planned for the end of April 2004. Current plans are to hold a full ALUG sunday meeting every three months. Norwich monthly meetings continue on the second thursday of the month and the current venue is the Forum coffee bar, 8pm. Next date is 12th February. NOTE The webpages for meetings around the region have been extensively reworked recently - many thanks, Mark. Regards Syd

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Meeting: King's Lynn, 14 Jan
by MJ Ray 13 Jan '04

13 Jan '04

Hello all, The next ALUG meeting is booked in King's Lynn on Wednesday 14 January at 7pm. The venue has changed to the Queen's Arms, which should have better beer (Elgood's) and be easier to find (on the biggest road into town and nearer the trains). This meeting's theme is "new year, new people" so I hope to see people from the last two meetings again, as well as any others nearby who we've not yet met. It's quite easy to get to from Hunstanton, Fakenham, Spalding, P'boro, Cambridge/Ely/Downham and Norwich/Dereham/Swaffham (bus or can we beg Brett?). Details and linked directions on http://www.alug.org.uk/meetings/2004/all-13plusWed.html So, who will we see there for sure? -- MJR/slef My Opinion Only and possibly not of any group I know. Please http://remember.to/edit_messages on lists to be sure I read http://mjr.towers.org.uk/ gopher://g.towers.org.uk/ slef(a)jabber.at Creative copyleft computing services via http://www.ttllp.co.uk/

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[ALUG] FW: High-Availability & Reliability Conference: Bournemouth, 25-26 Feb (UKUUG)
by Alasdair G Kergon 06 Jan '04

06 Jan '04

UK Unix User Group LISA/Winter Conference and Tutorial: High-Availability and Reliability Bournemouth, UK, Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th February 2004 http://www.ukuug.org/events/winter2004/ The main theme of the conference is High-Availability and Reliability, with topics including large-scale email services, High-Availability Linux, storage replication, MySQL, and choosing reliable hardware. The conference starts in the afternoon of Wednesday, 25 February and will be preceded by a half-day tutorial on High-Availability Linux clusters, and the Heartbeat cluster monitoring software. This is being given by Alan Robertson and Lars Marowsky-Bree, who will both also deliver talks in the main conference. Lars currently works as technical lead and developer for the SUSE Labs. His main areas of expertise are high-availability and cluster related topics, ranging from storage (multi-pathing, RAID, and replication) over network load balancing to cluster infrastructure service, resource management and administration. Alan, who is now based at IBM's Linux Technology Center, has been an active developer and project leader for High-Availability Linux for several years. He maintains the Linux-HA project web (www.linux-ha.org) and has been a key developer for the open source Heartbeat program. The technical talks of the conference run from the Wednesday afternoon and will finish late afternoon on the Thursday. The provisional programme includes: Matt Asay Open Source Capitalism: Innovation Business Models (Novell) for an Innovative Development Methodology David Axmark MySQL High-Availability Features (MySQL) Mark Baker and javaGMA: A lightweight implementation of Matthew Grove the Grid Monitoring Architecture (University of Portsmouth) Matthew Bloch Getting the best from your server with (Bytemark Hosting) User-Mode Linux Peter T. Breuer NetRAID (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) Tim Chown IPv6 Deployment Status (University of Southampton) Julian Field MailScanner (University of Southampton) Tony Finch Scaling up Cambridge University's email service (University of Cambridge) Niall Mansfield Experiences with the Sobig worms and (UIT Cambridge Ltd) how we combatted them (and other Spam) Lars Marowsky-Bree High-Availability Cluster Design and (SUSE LINUX AG) Set-up Stephen Mayo Hardware for high-availability (Hewlett-Packard) Richard J. Moore Preparing Linux for the Enterprise (IBM Linux technology Centre) Philipp Reisner Storage Replication with DRBD (LINBIT Information Technologies GmbH) Alan Robertson Heartbeat (IBM Linux Technology Centre) Steve Whitehouse Cluster filesystems (ChyGwyn Ltd) The event is open to both members and non-members of the UKUUG. Bookings must be received by 18 February 2004, and a discounted early booking rate is available until 23 January 2004. A limited number of free and subsidised places is available for those who would otherwise be unable to attend. See <http://www.ukuug.org/events/winter2004/> for booking information and full details of the programme including abstracts and speaker biographies. For further information, contact: Jane Morrison UKUUG Secretariat PO Box 37 Buntingford Herts SG9 9UQ Tel: 01763 273 475 Fax: 01763 273 255 office(a)ukuug.org www.ukuug.org The UKUUG was formed to represent users of UNIX and Open systems in the UK. It uniquely caters for the needs of people in this area and is completely independent of specific hardware and software vendors. Any profits are used to further the activities of the organisation. Provisional dates for Linux 2004 conference in Leeds: 29th July - 1st August 2004 _______________________________________________ main(a)lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!

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ALUG Sunday meeting in Norwich January 25th
by Syd Hancock 06 Jan '04

06 Jan '04

There will be a sunday afternoon meeting in Norwich on the 25th January 2004, from 2pm at The Billy Bluelight, Hall Road. Full details of venue etc are on the ALUG website http://www.alug.org.uk Following Norwich sunday meeting planned for April 25th. Details later. Regards Syd

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Norwich thursday evening meeting 8th January 2004
by Syd Hancock 06 Jan '04

06 Jan '04

It's come around quickly this month but the 'second thursday' Norwich evening meeting is this week, thursday 8th January 2004, from 8pm at the Forum Coffee bar. Details on the alug website http://www.alug.org.uk Regards Syd

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[ALUG] Re: Schools using open source software
by nick daniels 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

Hi I received this email from Herts LUG and thought it worth posting I have asked permission If i could foward it and was told , foward away Regards Nick Daniels On Wednesday 17 December 2003 15:44, tony.tibbenham(a)sonoco.com wrote: > All, > > Given the enthusiasm in LUG's for getting Linux into schools I thought the > attached message was worth broadcasting. Please respond directly to Jon > Hunt > > (forwarded with the permission of Jon Hunt. Originally received via MK LUG > mailing list) > > -----Forwarded Message----- > From: Jonathon Hunt <jon.hunt(a)becta.org.uk> > Subject: Schools using open source software > Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 11:47:24 +0000 > > Dear sir/madam, > > My name is Jon Hunt and I work for Becta's Independent Procurement > Advisory Service (Ipas). We are currently conducting a number of total > cost of ownership studies of ICT in educational institutions, and are > keen to extend these to include schools using open source software. > > I am currently pulling together a list of schools in England that are > using open source software, based on desk research, using sources such > as http://www.schoolforge.org.uk, http://casestudy.seul.org and the > suse-linux-uk-schools list archives. > > I would be interested to hear of any particularly notable case studies > you know about? I would be very grateful for any information or advice > you could provide. > > Becta, the British Educational Communications & Technology Agency, is > the Government's lead agency for ICT in education. > > Many thanks, > > Jon Hunt > IPAS - Independent Procurement Advisory Service, Becta > Tel: +44 (0)24 7684 7190 > http://ipas.ngfl.gov.uk http://www.becta.org.uk > > -- My thoughts -- > This is a chance to get education advisors to recognise the benefits of > Linux. Becta's web site includes such gems as "Microsoft Licencing > Negotiations" which is interesting reading. > > So, a chance for all those schools and colleges who have used GNU/Linux to > detail the benefits they have received and answer the question "is Linux > cheaper for education". > > If nothing else offering real competition may encourage existing suppliers > to keep their licencing fees low. > > Anyone got some good stories to tell? _______________________________________________ main(a)lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!

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Support Free Software with buying books (fwd)
by MJ Ray 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 2003-12-17 11:20:50 +0000 From: Thorsten Ehlers <thorsten(a)freiheit.com> Subject: Support Free Software with buying books Hi, a little more than a month ago we have launched our very own online-bookshop Bookzilla.de as a partner of Libri.de (a books distributor). The system runs on machines with Debian GNU/Linux. We receive a commission of 5% on every article, which we donate 100% to the Free Software Foundation Europe <http://www.fsfeurope.org/>. So if you are planning to buy some books, CDs or DVDs, you may want to consider doing so at <http://www.bookzilla.de/>. Best regards, Stefan Richter and Thorsten Ehlers on behalf of the Bookzilla.de-team

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